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NOTES 



ON 



Recent Work in Southern History. 



A paper read before the Virginia Historical Society 
Monday, December 21, i8gi, 

BY 

Professor W. P; TRENT, M. A., 

University of the South. 






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NOTES 



ON 



Recent AVork in Sontliern History. 



Just two years ago I had the honor of reading before the 
American Historical Association at Washington, a paper similar 
in character to the one I am about to present. In that paper I 
endeavored to give a fair statement of what was then being done 
for the cause of Southern history, and the description I gave of 
the conditions under which our historical scholars had to work 
could hardly have been considered cheerful. I ventured to pn-e- 
dict, however, that it would not be long before the South would 
awake to the necessity of encouraging the study of her own his- 
tory, and it is because I believe there are signs of this awaken- 
ing already visible around us that I have ventured to put 
together these brief and incomplete " notes." 

To one who is at all acquainted with the history of the South 
the present comparative indifference of her people to strictly his- 
torical matters is no matter of surprise. The paucity and the 
thinness of the South's contributions to early American literature 
have been acknowledged by all competent investigators ; and the 
chief reasons therefor have been correctly assigned. The same 
reasons that told so heavily against the creation of literature 
proper, told also against the inception and completion of much 
sound and extensive historical work. Here and there a gentle- 
man of special qualifications or of leisure and ability would pro- 



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50 



VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



duce a valuable biography, or a conscientious State history. 
Witness for example, Marshall's "Life of Washington," and 
Ramsay's "History of South Carolina." Sometimes a wider, 
sometimes a narrower field than a single State would be at- 
tempted ; more rarely a well-trained scholar like Judge Gayarre 
would give up the best part of his life to gathering materials for 
an exhaustive work. But when all is said, it has to be confessed 
that the number of real historical students in the old South was 
very small. The smallness of their numbers, as well as foreign 
example, naturally suggested the advisability of co-operation, 
and so the various State Historical Societies arose, our own 
being the first. ^ None of these societies, however, did any very 
serious work before the war, and none has ever approximated a 
full measure of usefulness. The Georgia Society did induce 
Bishop Stevens to write his history of that State, and the South 
Carolina Society early turned its attention to the colonial docu- 
ments deposited in the State paper office in London ; but it must 
be owned that upon the whole the Southern societies have col- 
lected no very valuable libraries ; that they have not rendered 
such collections as they do possess thoroughly accessible ; that, 
with the exception of our own Society of late years, they have 
been very irregular in their publications. It would not be hard 
to name more than one Northern society that has done more for 
historical science in a decade than all the Southern societies have 
done since their inception. 
V ,, The reasons for this condition of things are, as I have said, 
not far to seek. The immaturity of the country, the scattered 
nature of its population, the absorption of the leading intellects 
in politics, the free and easy-going life led by the upper classes, 
finally, the depressing effects of the presence of an institution 
which had survived its uses— all these causes operated in the 
ante-bellum South to depress literary and scientific work. But 
historical work was subjected to further drawbacks. It was pos- 
sible for a gentleman of means to collect a sufficient library for 

'The Virginia Society was founded in 183 1 (chartered 1834), that of 
Georgia in 1839, that of North Carolina in 1840 (chartered 1875), that 
of Tennessee in 1847 (chartered 1877), that of Alabama in 1851, that of 
South Carolina in 1855. The Louisiana Historical Society was incor- 
porated in i860. 



RECENT WORK IN SOUTHERN HISTORY. 51 

ordinary purposes — sufficient even for the purposes of the clas- 
sical scholar or the liierateiir — but it was not possible for him to 
collect a library large enough to serve the purposes of the histo- 
rian, certainly not the historian of recent times. This difficulty 
might have been overcome in part had the South possessed cities 
with large public libraries, or had the separate States done their 
duty with respect to the publication of their own archives. But 
throughout the South public libraries were — and are now — prac- 
tically non-existent, the public archives were in a state of "con- 
fusion worse confounded." What wonder, then, that the his- 
torical work done by our ancestors was limited in quantity and 
old-fashioned in quality ? We ought rather to consider it a 
matter for congratulation and praise that they did any historical 
work at all, especially when we remember that the scientific 
study of history is not many years old, even in England itself. 

I am of course far from denying that they read and studied 
history — few Americans know more about history, at least about 
that of their own country, than Southern men — but I am afraid 
that they regarded it chiefly as a study ancillary to their favorite 
pursuit of politics. That they sometimes made queer use of 
their historical acquisitions is abundantly evident from Calhoun's 
praise of the Constitution of Poland. But when all is said, we 
still owe a debt of gratitude to the early Southern historians. 
From the days of Stith to the present hour, they have been a 
much-enduring class of men. They have had little encourage- 
ment, and they have always got their full share of criticism. No 
one ever forgets to say that their works are, as a rule, decorously 
dull; but a good many people forget to give them credit for their 
single-hearted zeal. 

The evil effects of the late war upon Southern historical studies 
cannot be easily exaggerated. Long before hostilities were actu- 
ally begun, these eff'ects were very visible to all that had the eyes 
to see. One evil effect has been noted already. The prevalent 
desire to sustain certain positions held by the South in political 
matters, led her ablest men to look on history chiefly as a study 
ancillary to politics. The steps are few and easy from this nat- 
ural but degrading view of history to the still more degrading 
view held by the pronouncedly-partisan historian. This last evil 
consequence of* the civil strife of the generation just past is yet 



y 



52 VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

visible in the historical writings of both sections, and will only 
slowly disappear. It will disappear at last, but long after the 
effects that the poverty and unsettled condition of the South 
have had upon her historical literature. These effects have natu- 
rally been considerable. Few men have had leisure to read and 
study in the South since the war, and fewer still to write. Few 
men have had time or opportunity to acquire the training which 
is now so requisite in all intellectual pursuits. Few have had 
the money to endow chairs of history in our colleges, to found 
libraries, or even to encourage by an annual subscription the 
various historical societies. Our State governments have been 
in no condition to vie with Northern States or with foreign coun- 
tries in making their archives accessible. That they might have 
done more than they have done, that the little money they have 
appropriated for the purpose might have been better spent, it 
would be vain to deny; but they can at least plead more in their 
defense than our late billion dollar Congress can for its derelic- 
tion in this regard. In short, if the old South' s lack of zeal for 
historical studies is not surprising, that of the new South is still 
less so. 

But it is time I was bringing this introduction to a close and 
saying something about the recent work which gives my paper 
its title. This work is not very considerable in amount, but it 
plainly represents an advance over the state of things described 
in my paper of 1889.^ At that time I could do little more than 
point out the encouraging features connected with the establish- 
ment of the Louisiana Historical Association at New Orleans, 
and of the Filson Club at Louisville. I could also give a hint 
of Mr. Hugh R. Garden's patriotic intention of presenting the 
Southern Society of New York with the nucleus of a collection 
of books relating to the South — a collection which is now an 
accomplished as well as a catalogued fact, and which is destined 
to grow. By a queer piece of forgetfulness I omitted all refer- 
ence to what was by far the most encouraging fact I could have 
alluded to — the fact that North Carolina had put herself in line 
with New York by editing and publishing all the documents 

^ Papers of the American Historical Association, Vol. IV, Part IV, 
PP- 383-391- 



RECENT WORK IN SOUTHERN HISTORY. 53 

relating to her colonial history. But if I could not say much 
that was favorable, I was not at a loss for subjects that required 
unfavorable comment. I could quote Mr. Brock, for example, 
as writing that so many members failed to answer his appeals 
that he could not say how many live members the Virginia His- 
torical Society had. I could quote the President of the Alabama 
Society as writing that Alabama history could be better studied 
at Boston or- at Washington than within the State. I could also 
point out that the valuable archives kept in this very building* 
in which we are now holding our session, might any day be 
destroyed by fire. I could show, too, that I was no new Cas- 
sandra, for I quoted Charles Campbell as referring to this danger 
in 1859. I am not aware that we have yet saved our Troy, and 
if our archives may be fitly called our Palladium, I am not so 
sure that some wily Greek, like my friend Professor Jameson, 
will not ere long leave us in the lurch by carrying off the best 
part of their contents in his note-book. But if 1 indulged in 
pessimistic reflections in the body of my paper I allowed myself, 
nevertheless, to become a genial optimist in the conclusion, for I 
insisted upon the fact that the South would soon have a class of 
men having antiquarian tastes, and having the leisure and the 
wealth requisite to their pursuit. I showed, also, that Southern 
history offered a fascinating field of research to historical stu- 
dents of other sections ; and I have reason to know that several 
Northern students of history have been turning their eyes of late 
toward the South. For example, a graduate student of history 
at Cornell is writing his doctor's thesis on the Ku-Klux move- 
ment. But our own recent work is growing cold. 

Beginning with Maryland, which was not considered in my 
first paper, I desire to call attention to the proposition of the 
Woman's Literary Club, of Baltimore, to found a library of the 
works of all authors who have lived or written in Maryland. 
This movement deserves to be noted for two reasons — first, 
because it indicates a proper appreciation of the value of local 
history ; secondly, because it shows that women are able to sym- 
pathize with the scientific as well as with the sentimental side of 
historical work. There is obviousl)'^ no reason why women 
should not aid historians with their sympathy and enthusiasm ; 

^ The Capitol at Richmond. 



54 VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

there is equally no reason why women should not become histo- 
rians themselves. The working force of the generations to 
come is likely to be doubled through the recognition of woman's 
capacity to use her brains about other than strictly household 
matters, and I cannot help hoping that the cause of Southern 
history will derive great future advantage from two "emancipa- 
tions" instead of from one. 

But Maryland has a still greater claim to our attention, from 
the fact that the Johns Hopkins University of Baltimore is the 
centre of historical investigation in this country. It is no ex- 
aggeration to say, that the work Professor Herbert B. Adams is 
doing with his graduate classes is likely to be the most important 
factor in the future development of historical studies in the South. 
Every year Dr. Adams sends out one or more young South- 
erners trained for historical pursuits, ready to teach history in 
our colleges, and eager to prosecute original researches in the 
history of their respective States. I know of three such students 
sent to Southern colleges within the past year. Besides, the 
John Hopkins is itself forming a valuable library of materials for 
Southern history. The Scharf collection recently secured, is, I 
am informed, full of good things, and I can testify from personal 
examination to the value of the Birney collection in all matters 
relating to slavery. Nor should the essays and treatises on 
topics of Southern history, written at the Johns Hopkins, under 
Dr. Adam's own eye, be omitted from this count, especially the 
educational mongraphs which he has edited. Attention should 
also be called to the publications of the Maryland Historical 
Society under the editorship of another Hopkins official, Dr. 
William Hand Browne. 

Passing to Virginia, we find in this gathering an evidence of 
the fact that our venerable society seems to be taking a new 
lease of life. We find also that our Virginia women with their 
" Society for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities," are not a 
whit behind those of Maryland in their appreciation of the 
neceessity for stimulating interest in local history.* We note 



*The Virginia Branch of the Daughters of the Revolution (Mrs William 
Wirt Henry, Regent) are making efforts to raise an endowment for the 
Virginia Historical Society — a most noteworthy object 



RECENT WORK IN SOUTHERN HISTORY. 50 

furthermore that two members of this society have recently 
pubHshed works which will take their places in the permanent 
historical literature of the country. I refer, of course, to Mr. 
Alexander Brown's " Genesis of the United States," and to Mr. 
William Wirt Henry's biography of Patrick Henry. Nor do 
these names at all exhaust the list of the Virginians who are 
active in historical investigation. The work of Mr. Brock, 
President Tyler, Dr. Page, Mr. Moncure Conway and many 
others is familiar to us all. We must also remember that when 
our wretched debt question becomes settled, the State authorities 
will be deprived of their perennial excuse for their backwardness 
in publishing our archives. It will not be long before they will 
have to erect a fire-proof building for such documents as the 
teeth of time and of mice have left us; and in the meantime we 
can all hope that they will appropriate enough money to have 
the Northampton and other county records copied. 

The recent activity of North Carolina with regard to her 
archives has been commended already, but a word of praise 
should be given here to the editor of the " Colonial Records," 
Hon. W. L. Saunders; to Dr. Kemp P. Battle, who has been a 
life-long laborer in local history, and to some younger students 
like Drs. Smith and Weeks for their valuable monographs. 
South Carolina up to last summer appeared to be sleeping 
soundly, but the activity of her Northern neighbor seems to have 
awakened her. A committee of the State Historical Society 
began in June to collect information as to the cost of procuring 
copies of all documents in the Public Record Office at London, 
not hitherto copied, relating to the history of the province and 
the colony. The chairman of this committee was Hon. William 
A. Courtenay, who, during the time that he was mayor of Charles- 
ton, did much to encourage historical studies by the publication 
of the Charleston " Year Books," and was largely instrumental 
in having copies made of the so-called " Shaftsbury Papers," 
which another committee of the society is soon to edit. Mr. 
Courtenay and his colleagues having got their information into 
shape, began an effective propaganda among the counties and 
parishes, in order to force the Legislature by popular pressure to 
appropriate the small sum necessary for the accomplishment of 
their purpose. A good deal of interest having been aroused, a 



56 ' VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

public meeting in behalf of the project was held at Columbia on . 
December ist. At the time of this writing a bill drawn up by 
friends of the movement has passed the lower House in a modi: 
fied form, and it is unlikely that the Senate will withhold its 
assent.^ Thus South Carolina has probably secured copies of 
her colonial records, but she has also had her people of all 
classes aroused to the necessity of local historical work. If the 
members of her society will bestir themselves to keep the public 
interest from flagging, they will find that their future work will 
be greatly stimulated. 

Passing to Georgia, we see that her historical work is still 
chiefly connected with one name, that of Colonel Charles C. 
Jones, Jr., who has recently found time to publish a volume of 
biographical sketches. Georgia has, also, what is perhaps the 
most valuable archaeological collection in the Southern States, 
that of Dr. Roland Steiner of Waynesboro. It is further to be 
noted that a separate chair of history has recently been es- 
tablished in the State University, which is a decided step in 
advance. But it is the splendid example of constancy and high 
endeavor set by a citizen of Alabama that gives me most hope 
with regard to the future of Southern historical work. I refer 
to the labors of Mr. Hannis Taylor of Mobile, upon English 
constitutional history. When a lawyer in full practice can become 
so enamoured of scholarly work as to devote both time and money 
to pursuing researches similar to those which Mr. Taylor has 
undertaken, certainly no one need despair of the future of his- 
torical scholarship in the South. 

In my paper of two years ago, the space devoted to the States 
of Mississippi, Florida and Arkansas, was almost as short as the 
famous chapter on snakes in Ireland. There was practically no 
historical work to record, not even a semi-defunct historical 
society to attend to. Recently movements for the establishment 
of State societies have taken [)lace in all three of these States, 
and, although it is too soon to prophesy any specific results, it 
is safe to infer that good will be accomplished by the agitation of 
so important a matter. I have mentioned already the work 
doing by the new Louisiana Historical Association. From a 



"The bill has since passed. 



RECENT WORK IN SOUTHERN HISTORY. 57 

newspaper report of the contributions lately received by this 
Association I judge that it has succeeded in arousing some 
popular interest. When people come forward voluntarily and 
deposit their antiquarian treasures in a public museum instead of 
keeping them selfishly at home, a great step forward has been 
made. 

Lack of space prevents me from doing justice to the work of the 
Filson Club of Louisville, nor can I pay more than a passing tribute 
to the activity of the West Virginia Historical and Antiquarian 
Societ)^, which, if it has not yet done great things, is evidently 
working along modern lines.® I must mention, however, a 
society which, although just organized, will, I hope, do good 
work and set a good example. I refer to the Sewanee Historical 
Society, recently founded by officers, students and friends of the 
University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee. As I happen 
to be president of this Society, and somewhat responsible for its 
existence, I should prefer to keep silent about it, but for the fact 
that it seems to me to stand for one or two ideas which may be 
fruitful of good to the cause which I have most at heart — the 
Cause of Southern history. Whether the Sewanee Society will 
succeed in accomplishing the objects it proposes to itself cannot 
now be determined, but the ideas it stands for can be weighed in 
the balance now, and if approved can be acted upon at once by 
others. 

The first idea is to enlist in the service of historical research 
all the forces that go to make up a university. Every student, 
alumnus and friend of Sewanee is to be appealed to for contribu- 
tions ranging from an Indian arrow head to a life member's fee. 
Corresponding members have been selected from among the 
alumni, especially the clergy, to spread the historical propaganda in 
every city and parish in the South. Some have already responded 
in a loyal way, for it is a great thing to touch into activity two such 
strong feelings, as love for one's alma mater, and love for one's 
country. The law is said not to care for trifles, but the Sewanee 
Society does, for it believes that the best way to found an histori- 
■cal library and museum is to appeal for small gifts ; for what 



** It hes recently established a " Magazine of Southern History," under 
the editorship of Professor Virgil A. Lewis- 



58 VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

most people would regard as trifles ; old letters, old newspapers, 
odd numbers of magazines, any book printed in the South, be 
it only a school arithmetic. Not a student is allowed to leave 
the University without having it impressed upon him that he 
will confer a personal favor upon the officers of the society if 
he will keep a sharp lookout for such things. Now this idea of 
utilizing students and alumni is not new, but I am not aware that 
it has yet been applied by many of our Southern colleges in 
behalf of local history. I pass over the obvious advantages 
which the calm seclusion of a university offers for the study of 
history, in order to say a few words about another idea which 
this Society represents. 

The Society is managed by an executive council which is 
organized like a German seminary. It meets frequently, hears 
papers read, and is responsible for the proper use of the mate- 
rials gathered by the Society. Each member is assigned special 
work — genreally by the president — and it has been resolved that 
for several years to come this work must be local in character. 
In other words, the council is pledged to prepare a careful his- 
tory of the University of the South, and if it does no more than 
this, it will at least do more than some older and more important 
American universities have yet done for themselves. The Society, 
therefore, stands for the idea that minute work on local history 
must be prosecuted before any lasting work can be done in the 
more ambitious field of general Southern history. 

Now, why cannot every college and university in the South 
have a local historical society working in a true seminary style ? 
I believe that Richmond College already has one. And why 
should not every town, village and city have one as well ? Such 
societies need not interfere in the slightest degree with the State 
societies — they should rather be auxiliary to them. They can be 
organized by a dozen earnest persons, and certainly every college 
that has a professor of history ought to be able to furnish a com- 
petent director for the, work. It would seem, by the way, that 
this historical work could be easily fitted in with the schemes for 
university extension, which are being so vigorously discussed. 
I know of no more fruitful way of preparing a community to 
receive the benefits of university extension — and if I mistake 
not our Southern universities are too much cut off" from the great 



RECENT WORK IN SOUTHERN HISTORY. 59 

public that lives and moves around them — than by instituting 
preliminary courses in local history, to be conducted by the pro- 
fessor of history in the nearest college or other institution of 
learning. 

But my time is exhausted and I must bring these " notes" to a 
conclusion. I trust that this paper has shown that the Southern 
people are beginning to see the necessity for encouraging their 
historical students, and that the work these students are doing is 
being done on right lines. I believe that year by year more 
materials for Southern history will be gathered and more schol- 
arly work done on them. I believe that the time will soon come 
when the self-sacrifice and patient endurance of the Southern 
historians of the past and present will be generally recognized 
and praised. At any rate I am certain that we are even now far 
removed from the time when the following incident could occur 
in a Southern State and among educated men. 

A certain Georgia citizen, whose name is not given, wrote an 
account of some stirring scene in his State's early history. He 
died before he could have his monograph published. Two gen- 
tlemen of high standing, probably lawyers, were appointed his 
executors. They undertook the delicate task of apportioning 
the estate among the several heirs, and things went on swim- 
mingly for a time until the testator's manuscript was reached. 
Here a difficulty arose. It could not be divided. To publish it 
would be an unheard-of extravagance. It could not be left to 
become a bone of contention to the heirs. What, then, did these 
exemplary gentlemen — men who could doubtless have defended 
with great zeal and eloquence the genial practices of lynching 
and dueling — do with the manuscript ? They burned it ! ^ 

W. P. Trent. 

'From a pamphlet by Governor George R. Gilmer, of Georgia, 
quoted in The. Southerti Quarterly Review for April, 1852 (Vol. XXI, 
P- 514)- 



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